You don’t have to break the bank or your blow up your credit score to give modern, delightful gifts! The little, thoughtful things are always some of our favorites – whether they’re found peeking out the top of our stocking or wrapped up with a bow. Here we’re sharing 10 modern gifts that slip in under the $25 mark and will definitely be standouts!

Perhaps the sweetest wine stopper to ever exist, this cute little cherry is an iconic novelty they’ll get lots of use out of for years to come. Measuring 5″ x 2″, its presence will be known no matter if the wine bottle is on the table or tucked away on a shelf. It includes a rubber ring to prevent pesky leaks that like to happen at the most inopportune times.

We know there’s someone out there daydreaming about pot holders shaped like pasta, and we bet they’re on your gift list. This set of two are shaped like butterfly pasta, or farfalloni, and add a lot of fun to pulling dinner out of the oven. Their unique shape adds extra heat-resistance by placing a double layer of silicone between hot dishes and pans and your skin. Food grade, BPA-free, and even dishwasher-safe, these pot holders will charm anyone who spends time in the kitchen.

Kitschy and forever linked to New York City, invite someone to create their own street adventure with this LEGO Yellow Taxi! The vehicle features an ad on the roof, side-view mirrors, license plates, and turning rubber wheels. Made using a total of 124 pieces, this is a great gift to have on hand for car lovers, kiddos, and unexpected guests!

Hair clips are trending in a big way, and we absolutely love those that have a big personality – like this mini mushroom hair claw. Made from cellulose acetate, a plant-based alternative to plastic, it’s handmade and hand-painted, making each one-of-a-kind. The clip’s size – 2″ x 1.5″ – is perfect for a half up, half down style or any other creative look they can come up with.

Birch Bark is a simple, elegant 3-pack of notebooks from the ever-popular Field Notes brand. Like the birch tree itself, each is protected, in this case with speckled 110# Mohawk Loop “Snow” cover stock that has just a hint of warm grey. The seasonal changes the leaves go through as the year passes are reflected in green, yellow, and black staples and in the graph colors of the 60# Finch Opaque paper.

These cocktail picks will make their signature drink look even tastier. The set of four gold picks each feature a different piece of fruit colored with an enamel finish adorning one end. The picks measure 4″ long, the ideal size for garnishing everything from a dirty martini to a Shirley Temple. Just try to avoid being tempted to keep them for yourself!

This 3-pack of handcrafted one-hitters – intended for use with dry herbs/flowers where legal – feature a sleek, tapered design that’s minimal with a good hand feel. The lucky recipient can hide them away to use one at a time, or share with friends. There’s a variety of colors to choose from, we’re just partial to the pink.

This is nothing like your standard car air freshener. For the sophisticate on your gift list, Drift’s wood fresheners combine functional design with their designer grade scents. The modern take on the green, tree-shaped cardboard is a definite upgrade, made with sustainable wood and magnetized to fit on a car’s window visor with a metal clip. Soaked in essential oil blends, each one provides good smells and good looks, free of harmful chemicals.

We love gifting ornaments, especially ones that can be hung elsewhere (a plant, a doorknob, etc.) during the rest of the year. This chicken ornament arrives flat-packed and includes two sheets of vegetable ink printed, recycled cardboard. You – or they! – only need to pop out and assemble the little 3D craftwork. And if chickens aren’t their thing, there are other options to choose from.

Most of us rely on our smartphones for snapping more photos than we ever did on 35mm film. This vintage looking converter slides on to mimic a camera shutter, making their phone feel more like a point-and-shoot camera and providing a more comfortable, balanced experience. There’s even a shutter button, activated by the phone’s Bluetooth, and the ability to mount the grip to a traditional screw-in tripod. Watch out Annie Leibovitz!

Follow along so you don’t miss any of our 2023 Gift Guides this year!

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Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Maybe you’ve already seen a video or listened to a podcast explaining how ancient civilizations across the arid lands of the Middle East have long used terracotta structures with water to create efficient evaporative cooling solutions, systems that neither require electricity nor create an iota of emissions. Large installations such as Ant Studio’s large natural air cooler have been built to showcase how the porous material paired with water can cool surrounding air by the process of evaporation, especially of interest across our dangerously warming planet.

But what about applying the same idea on a smaller scale, one suitable for a house or just a room? Simon Pavy and design agency Entreautre have set out to use that same principle in the form of a small vessel, using a customized 3D printer to create the Biomimcry 3D-Printed Terracotta Cooler.

Within a ceramic vessel no larger than a typical houseplant planter lies the secret of the Biomimcry’s cooling qualities: an intricate nest of looping volumes inspired by coral. The vessel is manufactured layer by layer using a special 3D printer customized by Dutch artist, Olivier Van Herpt. Instead of typical plastic filament fueling output, Van Herpt’s printer extrudes terracotta in filaments with the precision of a skilled pastry chef using a fine-tipped icing bag.

The 3D printer has unlocked biomimetic geometries impossible to achieve by traditional manual techniques.

The coral-inspired form increases surface area where water can evaporate, and in turn, cool ambient air. The process is aided with a modern technological accomplice: a fan. Alongside the aid of an electric fan positioned at the bottom of the vessel, the evaporative effect is magnified by the layered coils’ finely ridged texture, a physical characteristic created during the 3D-printing process itself. In this way the technical constraint of 3D printing has become both an aesthetic signature of the object and an efficacy enhancer.

“I designed this structure using the software Grasshopper,” says designer Simon Pavy, “Which is a visual 3D programming language connected to Rhino 3D. It enables the creation of intricate and parametric components that would be challenging to achieve with conventional CAD programs.”

The Biomimcry 3D-Printed Terracotta Cooler still has some ways to go to make the jump from concept to a readily available product. But creator Pavy says the project is planned to launch in an industrial version as early as 2024 upon graduating from its current testing phase.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Debuting for the first time outside of the United Arab Emirates is the Tirhal Collection, conceptualized by Lithuanian-born textile designer Loreta Bilinskaite-Monie for Al Ghadeer Emirati Crafts. Tirhal’s (meaning ‘journey’) launch marks a contemporary revival of, and tribute to, traditional Emirati design, carrying us through from ancient tribal roots to modern day society.

The heart of the collection is made from the skills and talents of 16 Bedouin women who are among more than 300 who have taken part in the Al Ghadeer Emirati Crafts program. They’ve handmade each piece of the Tirhal Collection with sustainable materials, including locally-sourced sheep’s wool and natural dyes. Tirhal celebrates the deep-rooted cultural practice of Al Sadu weaving, an age-old tradition in which women transform wool from their own sheep into furnishings such as tent dividers, cushions, and pillows.

Photo: Mark Cocksedge

Bilinskaite-Monie’s vision captures the significance of cloth folding in the tribes across the Arabian Peninsula, who would fold up their tents, load them onto camel trains, and travel from location to location. Each piece features a modern, pixelated interpretation of a traditional weaving pattern, symbolizing the nomadic lifestyle of Bedouin communities.

“This design is a homage to the traditional life of Bedouin women – its authenticity and sustainability,” she said. “My aim was to showcase these weavings as their identity, their personal narrative, and to connect this rich social heritage with the sustainable, practical, and modern vision of the UAE.”

The color palette of the Tirhal Collection represents traditional natural tones often found throughout tribal life in the Arabian Peninsula. The deep blue is produced from the powder of indigo plants, pale green is created from the ghaf tree, burnt orange comes from natural henna powder mixed with hibiscus, while the two-tone black and white reflects the traditional Al Mudayla’iya Emirati weaving pattern.

It took a cross-cultural collaboration to bring this collection of five benches to life, international designs and local artisans worked hand-in-hand to elevate traditional textiles. Through it all, Al Ghadeer aims to create economic opportunities and skills education for women artisans, enabling them to transform their communities and contribute to a more sustainable world.

Photo: Mark Cocksedge

Photo: Mark Cocksedge

Photo: Mark Cocksedge

Photo: Mark Cocksedge

Photo: Mark Cocksedge

To learn more about the Tirhal Collection, visit alghadeeruaecrafts.ae.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.